Renewable Energy Accelerates Meteoric Rise

Washington, D.C.—The renewable energy
industry is stepping up its meteoric rise into the mainstream of the energy
sector, according to the REN21 Renewables 2007
Global Status Report. Renewable energy production capacities are
growing rapidly as a result of more countries enacting far-reaching policies.

“So much has happened in the renewable energy sector during
the past five years that the perceptions of some politicians and energy-sector
analysts lag far behind the reality of where the renewables industry is today,”
says Mohamed El-Ashry, Chair of REN21.

Renowned researcher Dr. Eric Martinot led an international
team of 140 researchersand contributors from both developed
and developing countries to produce the report. He says renewable energy
sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and small-scale hydropower offer
countries the means to improve their energy security and spur economic
development.

Citing the report, Martinot says the renewable energy sector
now accounts for 2.4 million jobs globally,
and has doubled electric generating
capacity since 2004, to 240 gigawatts. More than 65 countries now have national goals for accelerating the use of
renewable energy and are enacting far-reaching policies to meet those goals.
Multilateral agencies and private investors alike are integrating renewable
energy into their mainstream portfolios, capturing the interest of the largest
global companies.

Worldwatch President Chris Flavin
says the report shows that renewable energy is poised to make a significant
contribution to meeting energy needs and reducing the growth in carbon dioxide
emissions in the years immediately ahead. “The science is telling us we need to
substantially reduce emissions now,
but this will only happen with even stronger policies to accelerate the growth
of clean energy,” he says.

El-Ashry emphasizes that many of the trends described in the
Renewables2007 Global Status Report are the result of leadership and actions
launched since the major renewable energy conference held in Bonn, Germany,
in 2004. “This leadership has never been more important, as renewable energy
has now reached the top of the
international policy agenda under the United Nations and the G8,” said
El-Ashry.

Commenting on the dramatic rise of renewables, Achim
Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP), said: “The findings come in the wake of UNEP’s
annual gathering of environment ministers in Monaco last week. It is clear
from ministers in Monaco and from reports like REN21 that we are beginning
to see elements of an emerging Green Economy, fueled by the existing climate
change agreements and the prospect of even deeper and more decisive emissions
reductions post 2012.”

The Renewables 2007
Global Status Report is being released ahead of the Washington
International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC), taking place March 4–6 in
Washington, D.C. WIREC will be the third such international conference
following those in Bonn in 2004 and Beijing in 2005.

The renewable energy
industry is stepping up its rise into the mainstream of the energy
sector, according to the REN21 Renewables 2007
Global Status Report.